[Introduction]
Good afternoon.
Mr. President, fellow delegates, friends.
Before I begin, I would like to offer Canada’s condolences, inthe light of Tuesday’s earthquake in Mexico, to all families andfriends in mourning.
We wish a speedy recovery for all those who have been injured,and thank all first responders for their tireless efforts to help
keep people safe.

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1Our thoughts are also with our friends in the Caribbean who
continue to suffer from devastating hurricanes.
The generosity and resilience that millions have shown in theface of these natural disasters is an inspiration to the world,and Canada stands ready to lend a helping hand in whateverway it can.
It is an honour to be back here with you today, and to have an
opportunity to speak to this year’s theme: “Focusing on people:
striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable
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2Les gens. La paix. Une bonne qualité de vie et un
environnement dont nous prenons soin.
L’équité pour tous, peu importe l’endroit.
C’est ce qui compte aux yeux des Canadiens.
Tout au long de notre histoire, nous avons travaillé d’arrachepied pour réaliser nos ambitions.

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Chez nous et ailleurs dans le monde.
Aujourd’hui, j’aimerais vous parler des leçons difficiles que leCanada a tirées en cours de route.
Le Canada n’est pas un pays des merveilles où les difficultés
que vous connaissez n’existent pas.
On vit les mêmes défis que vous.
Le Canada est un projet en perpétuelle évolution.

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4Canada remains a work in progress.
So I want to tell you about the Canadian experience because forall the mistakes we’ve made, we remain hopeful.
Hopeful that we can do better, and be better, and treat eachother with the dignity and the respect that is the birthright ofevery human being.
I want to tell you our story because I know that the challenges
we have faced – and continue to face – are not unique in theworld.

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5And neither are the solutions.
An approach that values human dignity – that emphasizes
fairness and real opportunity for everyone – has a home in
Canada and in every country.
It’s an approach that doesn’t just serve domestic needs, butthat makes the world a better, more peaceful, more prosperous
place for all.

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[Progress for Indigenous Peoples in Canada]This year, in 2017, Canada celebrated the 150th anniversary ofConfederation. Our 150th birthday, if you will.
But Canada is much older than that.
It has been home to the descendants of settlers and immigrants
for hundreds of years, and Indigenous Peoples for millennia.
We are a country is built on different cultures, different
religions, different languages all coming together.
That diversity has become our great strength.

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7But that is not and has not always been true for everyone whoshares our land.
Canada is built on the ancestral land of Indigenous Peoples –but regrettably, it’s also a country that came into being without
the meaningful participation of those who were there first.
And even where treaties had been formed to provide afoundation for proper relations, they have not been fully
honoured or implemented.

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8For First Nations, Metis Nation and Inuit peoples in Canada,
those early colonial relationships were not about strength
through diversity, or a celebration of our differences.
For Indigenous Peoples in Canada, the experience was mostly
one of humiliation, neglect, and abuse.

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9Ils ont été victimes d’un gouvernement qui ne respectait ni
leurs traditions, ni leurs atouts, ni leurs gouvernance, ni leurslois, qui a choisi de nier et de miner leurs droits et leur dignité.
Ils ont été victimes d’un gouvernement qui a cherché à réécrireleur histoire distincte, à éradiquer leurs langues et leurs
cultures en imposant plutôt des traditions et des modes de vie
coloniaux.
Ils ont été victimes d’un gouvernement qui a rejeté laprotection du territoire et des eaux préconisée par les
Autochtones : le principe de penser toujours aux septprochaines générations.

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Au fond, nous avons rejeté l’idée même que des générations
entières d’Autochtones puissent se définir et vivre dans ladignité et la fierté qui leur est dû.
Et nous avons privé le Canada des contributions significatives
que ce générations aurai offerts pour faire avancer ensemble
notre grand pays.

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L’incapacité des gouvernements canadiens successifs àrespecter les droits des Autochtones au Canada nous fait
grandement honte.
Et pour beaucoup trop d’Autochtones, ce non-respet des droits
persiste encore aujourd’hui.

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12There are, today, children living on reserve in Canada who
cannot safely drink, or bathe in, or even play in the water thatcomes out of their taps.
There are Indigenous parents who say goodnight to theirchildren, and have to cross their fingers in the hopes that theirkids won’t run away, or take their own lives in the night.
Young Indigenous people in Canada struggle to get a goodeducation.
And though residential schools are thankfully a thing of thepast, too many Indigenous youth are still sent away, far fromtheir families, just to get the basic education most Canadianstake for granted.

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13And for far too many Indigenous women, life in Canada
includes threats of violence so frequent and severe thatAmnesty International has called it “a human rights crisis.”That is the legacy of colonialism in Canada.
Of a paternalistic Indian Act.
Of the forced relocation of Inuit and First Nations communities,
and a systematic denial of Métis rights and history.
Of residential schools that separated children as young as five
years old from their families, punished them for speaking theirown language, and sought to extinguish Indigenous cultures
entirely.

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The good news is that Canadians get it. They see the inequities.
They’re fed up with the excuses.
And that impatience gives us a rare and precious opportunity toact.
We now have before us an opportunity to deliver true,
meaningful and lasting reconciliation between Canada and First
Nations, the Métis Nation, and Inuit peoples.

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Au moment où nous entreprenons de nous réconcilier, nous
nous servirons, pour nous guider, des normes de baseadoptées, dans cette salle, il y a dix ans ce mois-ci.
Je sais que par le passé, l’attitude du Canada à l’égard de la
Déclaration des Nations Unies sur les droits des peuples
autochtones a été décevante.

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16On a activement fait campagne et voté contre, pour ensuitel’acceptér, sans grand enthousiasme, en disant qu’il s’agissait
d’un document « d’aspirations ».
Ce ne sont pas des aspirations. La Déclaration est très concrète
pour les Autochtones et ceux qui ont travaillé si fort, pendant si
longtemps, pour faire de ce document une réalité.

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In the words of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission,
the Declaration provides “the necessary principles, norms, andstandards for reconciliation to flourish in twenty-first-century
Canada.”That’s not an aspiration. That’s a way forward.
Last year, at the United Nations Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues, Canada’s then Minister of Indigenous andNorthern Affairs finally corrected Canada’s position on the
Declaration, and announced that we are now a full supporter ofthe Declaration, without qualification.

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In partnership with Indigenous Peoples, we’re moving ahead
with a thorough review of federal laws, policies, andoperational practices, to get our house in order.
To make sure that our government is meeting its obligations,
including international obligations under the Declaration.
We know that the world expects Canada to strictly adhere tointernational human rights standards – including the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – andthat is what we expect of ourselves, too.

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We are working closely with Indigenous Peoples in Canada tobetter respond to their priorities, to better understand how
they see and define self-determination, and to support theirwork of nation rebuilding.
Along with Indigenous partners, we are co-developing
programs to ensure the preservation, protection andrevitalization of Métis, Inuit and First Nations languages.
In short, we have been working hard, in partnership with otherorders of government, and with lndigenous leaders in Canada,
to correct past injustices and bring about a better quality of life
for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

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I’ll give you a few examples.
Many will sound familiar to you, because they are closelyaligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – goals
that apply to all of our countries, without exception.
Our efforts include investments to help bring safe and clean
drinking water to all Indigenous communities – part of the UN’s
Sustainable Development Goal #6: clean water and sanitation.
So far, more than two dozen long-term drinking water
advisories in Indigenous communities have been eliminated,
and we have a plan to bring to an end those that remain.

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Ces efforts prennent la forme de nouveaux investissements afind’éliminer les écarts en matière d’éducation dans lescommunautés des Premières Nations.
Ces nouveaux accords reconnaissent le pouvoir et l’autorité desPremières Nations.
Ils prévoient également les moyens d’élaborer et de contrôler
des systèmes d’éducation – des systèmes dirigés dans lescommunautés, par les communautés, pour les communautés.
Ces éléments importants concordent avec l’objectif dedéveloppement durable 4 : éducation de qualité.

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22Pour beaucoup d’Autochtones au Canada, ces investissements
permettront entre autres de préparer le terrain en vue
d’atteindre l’objectif de développement durable 8 : travail
décent et croissance économique.
Nous savons que personne ne peut espérer avoir une chanceréelle et égale de réussir sans les éléments suivants : une bonne
santé; une communauté solide; un bon emploi bien rémunéré;
une éducation de qualité et un endroit où vivre qui soit
sécuritaire et abordable.
Bien entendu, cela s’applique aux peuples autochtones.

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That’s why our efforts include working with Indigenous
communities to help build and refurbish homes.
Construction work on nearly 4,000 homes has been completed
or is underway, helping to fulfill SDG#11: making communities
safe and sustainable places to live.
And across the country, we are also working on a National
Housing Strategy, to give more Canadians access to housingthat is safe, adequate, and affordable.

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24Our efforts also include a stronger focus – in Indigenous
communities, across Canada, and around the world – on SDG#5: combatting gender-based violence and giving women andgirls equal opportunities to succeed.
We need women and girls to succeed because that’s how wegrow stronger economies, and build stronger communities.
That is why our government will be moving forward shortlywith legislation to ensure equal pay for work of equal value.

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25You see, the Sustainable Development Goals are as meaningful
in Canada as they are everywhere else in the world, and we arecommitted to implementing them at home while we also workwith our international partners to achieve them around theworld.
This is important, because poverty and hunger know noborders. We cannot pretend that these solvable challenges
happen only on distant shores.
The need for greater equality and decent work – those are realand persistent human needs. Ones we cannot afford to ignore
especially in our own countries.

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Il revient à chacun d’entre nous de faire en sorte que tous lesgens, y compris les Autochtones, aient de meilleures
opportunités.
Nous avons la responsabilité de nous assurer que la véritableégalité soit sans condition.
L’égalité s’applique à chacun d’entre nous. Peu importe notre
genre, nos origines, nos croyances, ou la personne que nous
choisissions d’aimer.

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Et nous avons la responsabilité de mieux prendre soin del’environnement, que nous partageons tous … comme je l’ai dit
ici à la cérémonie de signature de l’Accord de Paris, « nous
sommes tous concernés, dans tous les sens du terme. »Nous sommes tous responsables, et nos nouvelle façons defaire doivent tenir compte de cette réalité.

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In Canada, this means new relationships between thegovernment of Canada and Indigenous Peoples – relationships
based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation andpartnership.
Recently, we made changes to our own government structures,to help with the transition to these new relationships with
Indigenous Peoples.
We are dismantling the old colonial bureaucratic structures andcreating a new Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations andNorthern Affairs, led by Dr. Carolyn Bennett, an experienced
and effective advocate for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

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In her new role, she will lead our government’s efforts to bettersupport Indigenous Peoples as they strengthen their distinct
political, cultural, legal and economic institutions, and assume
autonomy over their own affairs, including the recognition andimplementation of self-government as an expression of selfdetermination.
At the same time, we recognize that in Canada, the federal
government has a historic responsibility for providing services
to Indigenous Peoples, and an ongoing role to play.

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To better do this work – while at the same time supporting
Indigenous self-determination – we will create, in consultation
with Indigenous Peoples, a new Department of Indigenous
Services, led by our former Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Philpott.
Over time, programs and services will increasingly be delivered
by Indigenous Peoples, as part of their move toward true selfgovernment, and the full implementation of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

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Nous croyons que cette séparation est le meilleur moyen pourle Canada de respecter davantage ses objectifs en matière dedéveloppement durable, tout en donnant suite au principe del’autodétermination, qui est au cœur de la Déclaration.
Nous avançons en terrain inconnu.
Personne ne nous a précédés sur cette voie.

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Mais nous ne pouvons pas nous permettre d’attendre.
Le moment est venu de faire notre propre chemin – ensemble.
Le moment est venu de sortir des sentiers battus, de faire
abstraction des limites imposées par de vieilles structurescoloniales désuètes pour faire place à la nouveauté, à desstructures qui respecteront le droit inhérent des Autochtones à
s’autogouverner et à déterminer leur propre avenir.

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For the federal government, this means making changes to how
we operate. The departmental change I mentioned is part offulfilling that responsibility.
For Indigenous Peoples, it means taking a hard look at how they
define and govern themselves as nations and governments, andhow they seek to relate to other orders of government.
Indigenous Peoples will decide how they wish to represent andorganize themselves.

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Some may choose to engage with our government based on
historic nations and treaties, others will use different sharedexperiences as the basis for coming together.
The choice is theirs. This is precisely what self-determination
demands.
Though this path is uncharted, I am confident that we will reacha place of reconciliation.

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That we will get to a place as a country where nation-to-nation,
government-to-government, and Inuit-Crown relationships canbe transformed.
A place where the standards enshrined in the UN Declaration of
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are fully realized – not merely
by government mandate, but in true partnership with
Indigenous Peoples.

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[Climate Change]
Part of that new partnership will involve addressing the sharedchallenge of climate change.
Indigenous and northern communities are particularly affectedby its stark reality.
In communities across the north – places like Paulatuk,
Kugluktuk [KUG-LOOK-TOOK], and Tuktoyaktuk – where
community members are finding sea ice conditions moredangerous and unpredictable for travelling and hunting in thewinter.

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In Canada’s western Arctic, the permafrost is melting and huge
pieces of tundra are eroding into the ocean.
And around Baffin Island, Inuit elders are finding it difficult toforecast the weather like they used to. So difficult that many
are now reluctant even to try.
At home, we are working hard to help these communities adapt
and prepare for the future.

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At the international level, our commitment is unwavering.
There is no country on this planet that can walk away from thereality of climate change.
And for our part, Canada will continue to fight for the global
plan that has a realistic chance of countering it.

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We have a responsibility to future generations, and we will
uphold it.
We have a chance to build in Canada – and in fact, all aroundthe world – economies that are clean, that are growing, thatare forward-looking. We will not let that opportunity pass usby.

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Au Canada, cela veut dire imposer un tarif sur la pollution
causée par le carbone. Lorsque c’est bien fait, c’est le moyen leplus efficace de réduire les émissions tout en continuant à fairecroître l’économie.
Cela veut aussi dire de continuer à travailler avec d’autres pays
pour nous rapprocher des objectifs que nous nous sommes
fixés.

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La semaine dernière, à Montréal, nous avons accueilli desleaders en matière d’environnement venant de plus de trente
pays pour participer à une séance de travail.
C’était l’occasion pour nous de discuter des différents moyens
de donner suite à l’Accord de Paris et de maintenir l’élaninternational vers un avenir plus durable pour tous.

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[Growth for the Middle Class; Canada in the World]
Likewise, the global community has a responsibility to do allthat it can to reduce inequality within and among countries.
In Canada, we are working hard to achieve this goal.
We improved child benefit payments. Our new program gives
nine out of 10 families more money to help with the high costof raising their kids, and because of that, we expect to reducechild poverty in Canada by 40%.

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We raised taxes on the wealthiest one percent so that we could
lower them for the middle class, and we’re continuing to lookfor ways to make our tax system more fair.
Right now we have a system that encourages wealthy
Canadians to use private corporations to pay a lower tax rate
than middle class Canadians.
That’s not fair, and we’re going to fix it.

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44Nous faisons des investissements pour rendre l’éducation plus
abordable et plus accessible.
Afin que chaque Canadien puisse obtenir la formationnécessaire pour trouver et pour garder un bon emploi, bienrémunéré.
C’est particulièrement important à une époque où
l’automatisation remet en question la définition traditionnelle
du travail.

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45À l’échelle internationale, nous avons réaffirmé l’engagement
du Canada à réduire la pauvreté et l’inequite, à mettre l’égalitédes sexes et l’autonomisation des femmes et des filles au cœurde nos efforts de développement.
Nous avons adopté cette approche parce que nous savons que
soutenir les femmes et les filles mène à la croissanceéconomique. Et que la paix et la coopération prennent ensuite
racine.
Les familles et les communautés peuvent alors espérer avoir
une meilleure qualité de vie.

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We are also working hard to deliver progressive trade
agreements like the Comprehensive Economic and Trade
Agreement with the European Union, which comes into effecttoday.
CETA will expand opportunities for businesses; create good,well-paying jobs for workers; and deliver meaningful economic
growth – the kind of growth that benefits all our citizens, notjust the wealthiest.

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We have the opportunity – and I would argue we have theresponsibility – to ensure that trade agreements include strong
provisions to safeguard workers’ rights, to protect theenvironment, and to ensure that the benefits of trade are felt
more broadly.
Because when we do that, we don’t just grow our economies –we live up to our values.
And we say to ourselves and to each other that good enough …
just isn’t good enough. That better is always possible.

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[Conclusion]
Et il est toujours possible de faire mieux quand les gens sont aucœur des décisions que nous prenons.
Les gens – comme nous le rappelle le thème de ce débat
général – sont la clé qui nous permet de bâtir un avenir
pacifique et prospère.

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C’est un avenir auquel nous tenons tous – pour nous, pour nos
enfants et nos petits-enfants.
C’est un avenir auquel les Autochtones, au Canada et ailleursdans le monde, ont le droit de participer – comme partenaireségaux, à part entière.
Et c’est un avenir que nous pouvons bâtir si nous travaillons
ensemble.

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50Our efforts to build a better relationship with Indigenous
Peoples in Canada are not only about righting historical wrongs.
They are about listening, and learning, and working together.
They are also about concrete action for the future.
The reconciliation we seek has lessons for us all.

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We can’t build strong relationships if we refuse to have
conversations.
We can’t chart a more peaceful path if the starting point is
suspicion and mistrust.
And we can’t build a better world unless we work together,respect our differences, protect the vulnerable, and stand up
for the things that matter most.

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As I said last year, we know it will be hard work.
But I remain confident – for Canada’s experience shows this tobe true – that any challenge can be met if we meet it together.
Thank you.

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